Thursday, 24 May 2012

The Sharp Crochet Hook and a Rubbish Cake!

I was lucky enough to be sent a sharp crochet hook to try out by Jessica from The Sharp Crochet Hook. That was some time ago now, I procrastinated for ages about what I was going to do with it. Ideas were rampaging through my head. In the end I decided to just get on with it and give it a test drive.

What I was expecting was a hook with a sharp bit on the poking in end so that you can get on with crocheting straight away and not have to either run a blanket stitch along the edge or make holes with a bradawl (have I just made up that word or merely spelt it wrong?). A sharp ended hook is exactly what I got and it certainly did do the job it promised.

Here I have speared the fabric and literally double crocheted all the way along making a foundation for more decorative stitches. I found the hook tended to drag a few of the fibres of the cloth through with it which puckered up the fabric. This was remedied my going much slower and pushing the crochet hook further through to make the hole larger. I read other reviews (here and here) and this wasn't mentioned. They used different weight/type fabric so maybe that was why. Lynne and I found we encountered similar issues and we used similar type of fabric. See her review here.

With this one I followed a tutorial I found on Pinterest. I wouldn't recommend using the sharp crochet hook for this actual border pattern as the hook wasn't very smooth to do the treble clusters with. By this time I had got used to poking it through the fabric and very carefully drawing the thread back through without snagging fibres of the fabric, but I couldn't pick up a decent rhythm with the clusters as the sharp bit of the hook kept catching. I should have stuck with one of the free patterns that comes with the hook which recommend you use the sharp hook to crochet a foundation chain on the fabric and then switch to a regular hook. I didn't finish my experimental piece of crochet as the part of the hook where you would normally have the size of the hook embossed has been filed away and it was a bit rough, it made my fingers a little sore, but I am rather pathetic, a less wussy lass probably wouldn't even notice!

I think this hook is great, it serves a purpose, fills a gap in the market and I think every keen crocheter should have one. However I think there are some manufacturing considerations to address. The sharp end of the hook needs to be smoother as does the grip area. Also the pointy bit of the 'beak' of the hook needs to be thicker and totally smooth so that it doesn't drag at the fabric as you pull the thread back through.

☀

On my last post I mentioned it had been my Mum's birthday. That reminded me that I took photo's of the most rubbish cake I have ever made. It did taste nice thankfully but I wanted it to look gorgeous. At least the Bunting I won from Sew Sweet Violet made up for the fact that it was a terribly pants looking cake.

Ha ha haaaaa! Look at that crap icing. It was dripping through the holes of the cake stand.

We had ourselves a mini tea party.

Sorry Mum, I couldn't talk about your birthday and not show a pic of the birthday girl herself! Mum hates having her photo taken.

28 comments:

I've always fancied one of those pointy hooks, however, like you, I'm not actually quite sure what I would do if I actually had one!

The cake looked scrummy, I had to smile when you said about it dripping through the holes in the cake stand, that sounds like something I'd pull off on a regular basis. I love tea parties, I have half an idea formulating in my head for middle boys 7th birthday, which nicely falls around the same time as the jubilee, however, for the picture in my head, I would need a month or so to organise it....ah, well....

'ERE, how flippin' dare thee. ALL my cakes turn out like that!!!!! Really!!!! But you know what, it is TOTES all about the inside, that is what counts. The Princess was taught in church about how it's what you are like on the inside which is more important than what you look like on the outside. It's totally true and as you said, I bet the cake tasted lush.Mine always taste amazing BUT I can honestly say I have never produced anything finer than your cake pictured above!!!I could comment on sharp crochet hooks and possibly made up words like bradawl, but I have NO IDEA so I will leave it there!!!Hope you are feeling better love. x x x x x

Happy belated birthday to your Mum! Well done for the cake effort! The taste is the most important bit anyway! I think your cake looks kind of arty anway! You should have pretended it was supposed to be like that!

Your cake looks amazing, and your Mum looks lovely, I bought the sharp hook, I liked it, and made "fusion bunting" with it, which was a mix of fabric and crochet, but haven't used it since, cause I'm a lazy sod. I think I see more of it in my future however, after being motivated by seeing this postxx

Strange, I was thinking only yesterday about writing a pattern that you work directly onto a plain vest or boob tube and wondering if you could get a small crochet hook through the fabric. I've never heard of a sharp crochet hook before.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to your lovely mum! i think the cake looks delish ;o) I have been thinking about trying to make a crochet edge on some cushions but it seems tricky...i keep putting it off. maybe i should bite the bullet!thanks for the sweet mention xhappy weekendlove jooles x

What!!!! even your 'rubbish' cake looks better than mine waaaaaa!!! Look at your mum she is so young looking, good gene's, so arn't you the lucky girl then, you will still look so young when you are older too.I have a feeling that sharp, pointy crochet hook could be quite handy, although I don't understand why the 'beak' part of the hook has to be pointy too. I wound tape around the 'handle' of one of my hooks because it was hurting my hand, much more comfortable.Hope your tum is a heap better today lovely.xx Sandi

Your crochet edging looks fabulous! I keep meaning to do it but I thought I'd blanket stitch the edge and then crochet into it....haven't properly thought it through really.I'm sure your mom appreciated her homemade cake (your mom looks luverly by the way)Have a happy weekend, hope it very sunshiney

Nothing wrong with that cake that I can see! And your Mum sure looks happy with it. As Fee says, you are too hard on yourself missus, you set the bar so high. I wish my daughters would make cake for me on my birthday, they're quite old enough to!

Awww Hope your mum had a nice birthday. It's funny...your version of a rubbish cake is my version of a great triumph! I need to practice making cakes more. I made one a couple of weekends ago and it turned out ok, but i'm not that hot on it.

The hook looks like something I'd love to try. Good points made though. I have a few bought tea towels with pretty lace edging, and it's always something that i've wanted to do myself to more. It's just getting round to it all I suppose. I have all these ideas but the list is getting longer and longer, and sadly, time is not.

My day is now dedicated to house cleaning, so i'd better get off here otherwise nothing will get done.

Loving the pointy hook! I wanted to make some fabric with a frilly edge so this looks ideal! With my track record I'd probably crochet through my finger though :P If only it came with a little magic ruler to help you line all your stitches up so that they're all the same size and in the right place!Loving the cake + bunting by the way, such a cute idea.

Ohhhhh! I wondered how you were supposed to crochet along the edge of fabric...never even knew you got sharp ended crochet hooks! It really does look so pretty though, I've seen it along the edge of pillowcases, just lovely.

Fab cake, shame about the crap icing! ;) lovely picture of your Mum... I like the idea of that hook, I haven’t done any crochet for weeks. The cardi I'm my post was from a very expensive shop, it was from Primark! :0))) have a fab weekend gorgeous xxx

I L♡VE your comments. Thank you ever so for taking the time. I do try to get back to everyone but I am rather scatty and I have these 3 big distractions....(and I'm just generally a bit rubbish lately, so please don't feel obliged to leave a note) Sorry about the word verification too, too much spam.

About Me

My blog is a diary of all my crafting exploits with my family life thrown in too. Cuckoo is my nickname, it comes from a song my dear Nanny Dot used to sing to me "The cuckoo is a pretty bird, she singeth as she flies..." but it sums me up well, I am a teeny weeny bit cuckoo (but who isn't?!)
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